Greetings Readers,
This Sunday I was playing Football with a couple of friends and the ball went in the gutter. After a rescue operation of the likes seen in "Black Hawk Down" we managed to get the ball out. Needless to say it was still filthy. So we had to get it washed out. Our solution? Roll it around in almost equally mucky water on the road!
Often we are quick to realize that there is a need for change. The need to clean our footballs that have fallen into the gutters of the world. But with what do we clean our balls (That was not intended!)
The revolution is always simmering on the back burner ready to boil over. We know when its time to replace the old with the new because it has outlived its utility. But an often under reflected aspect of any revolution is "The Replacement"/"The Aftermath"
Lets take a reflective example. Imagine a coffee stain on the table in your house (All women- I know your tables are always clean. Please Imagine) Now the first thought in your head is not "Let me find a 'CLEAN' cloth to wipe this". You think, "I need a cloth". The cleansing element is very rarely examined.
You see, we often rush to make the change but never consider what will take us in the right direction I can provide you a number of examples but I will satiate my excitement by providing you just two.
The first is very recent. In 2011, the regime of Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in Egypt.
The causes were pretty obvious. The people were suffering at the hands of a corrupt and inefficient government. A revolution happened (Shit got real) and "Mubarak Ka Shok Ho Gaya" (Hindi wordplay. Indian in me couldn't resist) He was replaced by the 'democratically elected' Islamist Mohamed Morsi.
He led Egypt to a golden age of prosperity and growth and stability. Oh wait! That is not what happened!
If anything the situation went from bad to worse! Economic stagnation and recession, Increase in poverty and malnutrition, led people with no choice but to protest again (within a space of merely 2 years). Another overthrow has taken place and Egypt is currently in a sort of political limbo.
The second example is from the Age of Revolutions, to be more concise, The French Revolution. The great reforming agent of the modern era. It is the turning point in history that actually brought the people to power. But what was among its numerous aftermaths?
After the Revolution the control of the Committee of Public Safety passed to Maximilien Robespierre (Who was your average blood thirsty sadist with a special liking for the thud of severed heads) He executed about 16,500 by guillotine and another 25.000 in summary executions throughout France. All this on the accusations of "anti-revolutionary" actions. (Not being involved in the revolution was reason enough) This period in the Revolution came to be known as "The Reign of Terror".
This is a quote by the man himself, Robespierre ~
In conclusion,
This Sunday I was playing Football with a couple of friends and the ball went in the gutter. After a rescue operation of the likes seen in "Black Hawk Down" we managed to get the ball out. Needless to say it was still filthy. So we had to get it washed out. Our solution? Roll it around in almost equally mucky water on the road!
Often we are quick to realize that there is a need for change. The need to clean our footballs that have fallen into the gutters of the world. But with what do we clean our balls (That was not intended!)
The revolution is always simmering on the back burner ready to boil over. We know when its time to replace the old with the new because it has outlived its utility. But an often under reflected aspect of any revolution is "The Replacement"/"The Aftermath"
Lets take a reflective example. Imagine a coffee stain on the table in your house (All women- I know your tables are always clean. Please Imagine) Now the first thought in your head is not "Let me find a 'CLEAN' cloth to wipe this". You think, "I need a cloth". The cleansing element is very rarely examined.
You see, we often rush to make the change but never consider what will take us in the right direction I can provide you a number of examples but I will satiate my excitement by providing you just two.
The first is very recent. In 2011, the regime of Hosni Mubarak was overthrown in Egypt.
The causes were pretty obvious. The people were suffering at the hands of a corrupt and inefficient government. A revolution happened (Shit got real) and "Mubarak Ka Shok Ho Gaya" (Hindi wordplay. Indian in me couldn't resist) He was replaced by the 'democratically elected' Islamist Mohamed Morsi.
He led Egypt to a golden age of prosperity and growth and stability. Oh wait! That is not what happened!
If anything the situation went from bad to worse! Economic stagnation and recession, Increase in poverty and malnutrition, led people with no choice but to protest again (within a space of merely 2 years). Another overthrow has taken place and Egypt is currently in a sort of political limbo.
After the Revolution the control of the Committee of Public Safety passed to Maximilien Robespierre (Who was your average blood thirsty sadist with a special liking for the thud of severed heads) He executed about 16,500 by guillotine and another 25.000 in summary executions throughout France. All this on the accusations of "anti-revolutionary" actions. (Not being involved in the revolution was reason enough) This period in the Revolution came to be known as "The Reign of Terror".
This is a quote by the man himself, Robespierre ~
"Terror is nothing else than justice, prompt, severe, inflexible."This Reign on Terror ultimately ended with Robbie having his own head rolled (guillotined, cut of, severed, I've run out of verbs!) by his fellow reformers who found him to be a little to extreme (I wonder what made them arrive at this conclusion?)
In conclusion,
"The Replacement is more important than the Revolution by itself"On that note I bid thee adieu!
Yours Truly,
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